“Neeta’s bullshit and your bullshit, it’s done,” another voice called and I turned to see Stoney, the owner of one of the biker paraphernalia shops on Main Street, chipping in.

“Yeah, grow up. What ya’ll think? You’re still in high school?” another voice yelled out.

“That bitch is tryin’ to take Neeta’s man and her boy,” the non-descript one defended, pointing at me.

“Far’s I can see, she’s already got Neet’s man and good for Tate,” Stoney put in. “Finally Tate’s got himself a woman who don’t cause no headaches and we all know Tate comes with his boy.”

“I wouldn’t say I don’t give Tate headaches, Stoney,” I clarified. “Seeing as I’m a biker babe in training, sometimes I mess up and make him mad.”

I heard chuckles, Wings turned toward me and grinned before saying, “You need lessons, darlin’, Tate’s gone, I’ll do what I can.”

“Thanks Wings, I’ll… um, consider that,” I lied on a smile, I felt eyes and I looked to see Carmen’s gaze narrowed on me.

“I don’t find you funny,” she said softly.

“I don’t care,” I replied.

“You’re still here,” Krystal prompted.

Neeta’s crew liberally handed out glares as they made their way to the door. I figured this was mostly to save face but I didn’t think too much about it. They were leaving, that was all I cared about.

Steg helped me down from the bar and Twyla got close.

“You good?” she asked as her eyes looked me up and down and then she answered her own question. “You’re good.” She turned and shouted, “Who needs a f**kin’ beer?”

I looked at Krystal and smiled. She looked at me and shook her head.

Then she moved to return the shotgun to its hidey hole (wherever that was) and I went back to work.

* * * * *

That night, on the phone with Tate (even though it was after three in the morning, I was still on orders to call him the minute I hit his bed), I told him the whole thing.

His sounding-amused reply?

“Babe.”

* * * * *

The second and third things that happened came as a one-two punch.

* * * * *

See, before Tate left, Ned, Betty, Shambles and I all went to Tate’s attorney’s office in Gnaw Bone and swore out depositions. Ned, Betty and Shambles’s were about what happened at the pool, mine also included what I witnessed when Neeta came for her nocturnal visits and what Jonas shared before French toast.

These depositions were needed as Tate was outside the visitation arrangement, essentially having kidnapped his son (but not really) and he needed to make his case urgently to get custody awarded to him considering the state of play at Neeta’s house.

While Tate was gone, he received word that the judge had read the depositions and found them concerning enough to award temporary custody to Tate and find a slot for Tate’s case.

Tate was under the gun to hunt down the bad guy and get back home for the hearing. This he managed to do, with no time to spare, arriving home the night before the morning hearing.

I was on tenterhooks.

I was on tenterhooks because I needed to be at the courthouse, they were going to call me, Ned, Betty and Shambles as witnesses.

I felt bad for Shambles being dragged into this (though he said, repeatedly, he didn’t mind at all).

Sunny was home and recovering, physically, but she wasn’t yet fit to go back to La-La Land and wouldn’t be for some time. Jonas and I would visit both Sunny at their house and Shambles at La-La Land but things were not good in their world and it didn’t seem they were recovering as quickly as Sunny’s body was.

I was also nervous about appearing in court. I was Tate’s milf girlfriend, an ex-executive, current waitress who was a divorcée and who wandered around like an idiot in her car for months before finding Carnal and, once I did, I lived in a hotel. If Neeta’s attorneys got hold of that, I didn’t think it would sound too good to the judge.

So I needed an outfit that said I was smart, respectable, kind and motherly but not overly motherly as in, I was out to wrest Neeta’s child from her and would stop at nothing to do so. I couldn’t wear one of the suits I used to wear to work because they said smart and respectable but not kind or motherly. I didn’t have anything else that would do either and I’d tried on practically everything that wasn’t shorts, jeans or t-shirts.

So Wendy and I took Jonas to the mall and spent three hours torturing poor Jonas (who didn’t mind the mall, for, say, the first five minutes, then, just like his father, he found it not so fun) until I found something. I bought it because Wendy swore it was perfect. She swore it was me and she advised I had to be me because the judge would see through anything else. And I bought it even though I thought it made me look more milf than mother and I bought it because Jonas looked ready to beg the next woman he saw to adopt him immediately.

I also bought Tate the picture of the bikers driving into Carnal. I bought this from Stoney who didn’t want to sell it. As in, he really didn’t want to sell it. This meant I had to go all the way up to one thousand five hundred dollars to buy it in the haggle-with-a-biker to end all haggles-with-a-biker, one I obviously lost. This was a little insane but it was also how badly I wanted Tate to have it. Pop went to go get it and he and Jim-Billy fixed it to the wall over Tate’s bed.

Seeing it there, I didn’t mind that it cost an absolute fortune. I was right, it was perfect. It made the room.

And it was Tate. The minute I walked into Stoney’s and saw it up close, I knew he had to have it, I made it mine to give, I gave it to him and it was worth every penny.

But I worried Tate would find out how much I spent and lose his mind, even though I swore Stoney to secrecy.

Tate didn’t get a chance to see the surprise in his bedroom to get pissed off about it.

No, he was pissed the minute he walked into the house.

I knew this because I was standing in the kitchen, Jonas was in the living room playing a video game on the TV and Tate walked in, his eyes locked on mine and I didn’t even get my mouth open to say hello before he growled, “Bedroom.”

Then he prowled toward the hall, only his head turning toward Jonas to whom he said, “A minute, Bub.” Then he disappeared down the hall.

I thought he’d heard about the picture and I followed him, taking my time, not wishing to rush to my punishment, and I threw a curious-looking but grinning Jonas a nervous smile before I hit the hall.